Canyon of the Ancients National Monument

[ilanarama]

I'm way behind on showing off hiking pictures, but here are a few from the weekend before last, when we went to the fairly-new Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, about an hour and a half west of here. Photos are links to bigger ones at my flickr page.


Escalante Pueblo, a restored Anasazi ruin. The water in the background is McPhee Reservoir, and the mountains are the LaPlatas.


Britt torturing playing with a small tarantula, and Sand Canyon with part of Sleeping Ute in the background.

By the way, driving out there I was reminded of just how rural an area we live in, as we had to stop twice for cattle being driven across the road, and once for sheep. Britt grumbled about the cowboys being mostly mounted on ATVs rather than on the traditional horses.

Comments

[saramwrap.livejournal.com]

So gorgeous!

The amazing views from west of the Mississippi make me wish I didn't live in this metropolitan hellhole.

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

The pictures a gorgeous. Even the tarantula. I wonder if I should take up hiking. The views are amazingly spectacular.

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Well, if I can move from that metropolitan hellhole, so can you! :-)

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Tarantulas are cute in a kind of creepy way. I've allowed them to crawl on me before, but didn't want to pick this one up - funny, the bigger ones seem less spider-like and more cute and furry, but this one pinged my spidey-sense (which is the part of me that goes, "Eeek! Spider! Keep it AWAY!")

Hiking is good cross-training for running. There are some nice places to go in western Maryland and VA, although I have to admit, nothing like we have out here.

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who hikes out in Western Maryland. I've always thought about going with her. I just never have.

I'm going for my first run since the marathon tonight. 2 miles. I'm still a bit sore.

[alembicresearch.livejournal.com]

Britt is a brave fellow.
I'd be scared that I'd get chomped on by picking up a wild Tarantula!

I'd love to live in a more rural area ...
around there the "cowboys" all drive Hummers.

[catbear.livejournal.com]

wooo pretty! great scenery and photos.

[triestine.livejournal.com]

Jealous. Very.

[de-wynken.livejournal.com]

what a nice place!!

Pretty little tarantula..I had the pleasure to torture..err..play with some larger mexican redback males last fall..they are so cute..and I HATE spiders..I wore a thick glove when handling mine though.

I think it was too wet/cold for them around here this year, the last year of the drought they were all over the place during the fall.

I thought of Durango today, but it looks like snow out, doesn't it?

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Britt claims they don't bite unless provoked, and they don't bite very hard. I'd think that being picked up would be provoking, though....

We still see people riding horses by the side of the road on occasion.

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I still have bunches I need to post from a couple other hikes. I just need to get off my duff and pick the good ones and ship them to the website...

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Hey, you've got big bodies of water! We have some small high-country lakes and a few reservoirs big enough for little boats.

But I get to drool over your pictures, and you can drool over mine!

[ilanarama.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, we found a HUGE one a couple of years ago in the HDs. I even let it crawl on me, because it was so big it almost didn't look like a spider, if you know what I mean.

It did look like weather yesterday, but today we've got blue skies, yay.

[alembicresearch.livejournal.com]

I've heard some in some parts of the world are harmless,
and others in other places are deadly ...
and some don't bite, and some give little "nips",
and some will bite the hell out of your hand,
and make you wish you were dead.

Since I have no idea which are which, I leave them all alone,
more or less.

One of my lab partners in college had big furry one for a pet,
a "red legged" or something like that (or maybe it was "red spotted legged").

Anyway, I didn't have to much of a problem
letting that one walk on me or my hands.
Since I'd watch my lab partner hold it many times
without getting chomped.

Like you, the more furry and bigger, the more likely I'd
be less squimish about them ...

Spiders that seem to make me most repulsed are the black widow types:
spiders that have big buldging abodmens and are shiny and slick ...
espicially if they are black with somekind of "symbol" on them ...
"skull and cross bones" ... "bio-hazard" ... "radioactive" ...
those I would not touch with a ten foot stick.

[de-wynken.livejournal.com]

So a spider the size of a small cat is ok? :P

Yeah, it's purty out today :)